This post makes me smile. Back when the first Pixar's Cars came out my parents took my sister and I to see it. When we had to turn back from a camping trip due to rain and flooding up at my Grandparents camp in New York State. When I saw Doc Hudson I was in awe. I started collecting anything Doc Hudson related from the die cast models and other items. The reason why I was so into Hudson's was my Great-grandfather used to work as a service tech for Hudson Motors at a local auto repair shop.
He owned several Hudson Hornets and some other cars. Until the city where they lived told him to clean up the yard and the cars were moved to my Grandparent's farm. The cars were parked in the woods on the property the farm. Sadly the cars were damaged by fallen trees and people trespassing. They were to far gone to be restored. When my Grandfather passed away in 2004 my Dad had no choice but to scrap the cars. We had one literally split in half when dragging it out of the woods.
However, I was perhaps smart in some ways and was able to save a Hornet emblem off one car and the ID tag out of the door jam of another. I remembered my Grandmother telling me about when her father worked on Hudson's and how she had one as her first car. I asked her what color and she replied “black” she said she wished it had been blue like her sister's Hudson but she said it was a good car just never liked the color too much.
When I was exploring an old shed next to my Grandparents house I came across several wooden cases. In the cases were a bunch of old car magazines ranging from the 1920's til the early sixties. The magazines were my Great-grandfathers. My Mom's Father was able to sell they magazines online for my Grandmother. She was able to put the money into somethings she wanted. Though my Mom's Mother said why don’t you sell the Hudson Manuals and I said no way. Along with the magazines I noticed a box in a corner buried under junk. I opened it and got a shock that even today gives me goosebumps. In the box were my Great-grandfather's Hudson Motors service tech manuals.
There were other stuff he had when working on his training as a mechanic in the box as well. Surprisingly I found an old photograph of a group of men dressed in shop coats, standing behind a bench with a welcome Hudson Dealers banner in the background. I asked my Grandmother if by chance her father was in the photo. She took one look and laughed and said he was right in the front. That photo is now framed and hangs in my bedroom. Along with a shelf dedicated to my Hudson collection. I will add a Hudson to my layout if I find one I like or maybe I will just make a billboard or both.
